bmcc 6k full frame: Shoot at 6k open gate or 4kdci?

Hi all,
I'm filming a short film which will be 95% outdoors in places with a lot of detail, think foliage, lots of rocks, a large flowing river, and some of the scenes will be around dusk.

I recently bought the Blackmagic cinema camera 6k full frame and was watching a youtube video called "Blackmagic 4K vs Cinema Camera 6K | Round 1" from the Write & Direct channel, and I wasn't aware that shooting at 6k open gate would give better lowlight footage with less noise, and apparently better color than shooting at 4k, it just didn't cross my mind stupidly enough, since I know by experience that this is the case with 4k vs 1080 footage.

I plan on submitting the film to small and medium sized festivals, but also to some of the bigger more prestigious festivals where movies would be displayed in a larger format. I don't mind spending the extra money on filmfreeway if my movie seems like it might have a chance with a bigger festival.

My question is a technical one – would it be better to shoot at 4k DCI and at a higher data rate (I don't have lots of knowledge comparing data rates in terms of quality) eg 3:1, or to shoot at 6k open gate at a lower data rate like 8:1? I understand that it's easier now to buy storage, and I have spent a lot of time meticulously pre-producing this film and would not want to settle for a lesser quality image to save some storage space (I do realize that IQ is subjective, but I am talking about noise being visible vs only slightly visible) – particularly for the dusk scenes. I do have lenses that can shoot pretty fast, the sigma 18-35mm f1.8 being one of them, so I'm not really worried about having to crank up the ISO to really noisy levels. My second camera, the Lumix s5ii can also shoot 6k open gate, and I'll be using that camera quite a bit for the scenes when I am moving more with the camera handheld.

I am quite new to submitting to larger festivals and the opinions seemed mixed on what resolution to film at and deliver to these larger screen format festivals.

What do y'all think?

Shoot in 6k 16:9 or dci if you have fear to use too much space.

Shoot in higher resolution mean:
- more room to reframe or stabilize or correct small inclination of camera
- less noise be cause when you output at 4k dci the Dow sampling reduce or completely clean up the the noise.

Shooting in 4k mean more noise be cause you crop sensor and amplify eventually noise.

Told this if you are feared from noise, which could be esthetically a good Thing, the size is never decided from the compression but from subject in camera, more deep focus mean higher data rate, less details mean lower data rate.

Try to shoot in Q mode, it is more efficient for space and you can see more quality when you need.
Do your test and do a favor to your self, buy some led light, today there are very powerful led light powered by battery, don’t believe to people that told you that today light are not used, if you want a good picture quality you should pur every sensor in the right exposure point, not crank it with iso.


Inviato dal mio iPad utilizzando Tapatalk

If you purchased the new BMCC6K full-frame and can manage a higher media datarate, I’d recommend you record open gate recording BRAW Q1 24 fps and deliver in 4K or UHD in whatever aspect ratio is recommended by the most prestigious festival you aspire to submit your film to. If Q1 is too challenging for your media resources, shoot Q3. Test detailed scenes first before you decide.

Shooting full-frame of course means you need to shoot with lenses that cover full-frame sensors. The Sigma 18-35mm 1.8 zoom can cover a Super 35 crop, not full-frame.

See this thread:

The best lens option for someone who got BMCC 6K Full Frame
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic? ... source=app

I appreciate the replies.

Perhaps a good idea would be to film deep focus scenes with lots of detail in 6K open gate, and shallow focus scenes with less detail in 4K to save space. I'll do some testing in my backyard playing around with the different resolutions and compression/data rates and see how much storage space they consume and whether I need to buy more storage. I'll also have to see if my

samsung T7 ssd
&
SABRENT Rocket V60 256GB SD UHS-II Memory Card R270MB/s W170MB/s (SD-TL60-256GB)

are capable of recording 6k open gate in 24fps with Q1/3. I'll film the scenes at dusk both with and without lighting to see if it's necessary (as long as I can make it look somewhat natural) and perhaps a fast aperture and high resolution may be enough to avoid noise and capture good image quality.

Thanks again!!!

What do y'all think?

Without a shadow of a doubt it really, truly does not matter. The kind of difference you're talking about—4K 3:1 vs 6K 8:1—will not be the deciding factor on whether or not your film is selected. Either of those settings will produce terrific images in the context you're describing, and the screeners will likely only watch them as a 1080p YouTube/Vimeo stream on their laptops anyway. I literally cannot remember the last time any of my colleagues or I watched a short and thought to ourselves "This would have made the festival cut if only it was shot in 6KFF,". If I'm being honest, visual fidelity may very well be one of the least important aspects of a short film! To actually be programmed at a festival it is really more about delivering a short that is entertaining and gets to the point. I cannot tell you how many well shot but boring films are immediately thrown in the trash, especially as the number of submissions climbs every year.

So my answer to you is this: choose the setting that is going to allow you to film as efficiently and cheaply as possible, so you spend more time focussing your attention and budget on what you're putting in front of the camera.

I totally agree with you. Story is king. Since I got these two cameras and have learned a bit about tech and specs, I'm just curious as to the difference between 4k at a high data rate vs 6k at a low data rate and whether or not use the cameras to their full potential.
My first short film I did solo with a sony fdr-ax100 with no lights, an on camera rode videomicro, and used non-actors and it did very well in festivals.
However, since the location is such a character on its own in this short film, it would be great to maximize its potential visually – it's mainly filmed underneath a large dam by a wide and fast river, a girl loses something precious down there and faces many obstacles to get it, one being the dam about to release itself.
I have heard mixed opinions on resolutions for film festivals, but it is apparent to me that good stories ought to do better and that there's so many "good looking" short films out there that actually bring very little in terms of content. I figure I'll film in 4K because I can and it won't take much of my storage space, (i've already filmed long sessions of content in 4k and had no issue), and then downsample it to whatever the film festival desires.

Thanks again for all the replies! This forum is really really helpful.